President Donald Trump threatened to keep the partial government shutdown for years until he gets funding for the border wall.
After a meeting with congressional leaders and Trump at the White House on Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “We told the president we needed the government open. He resisted. In fact, he said he’d keep the government closed for a very long period of time, months or even years.”
The president confirmed to reporters that he is willing to extend the partial government shutdown for a long time. Trump said, “Absolutely I said that. I don’t think it will, but I am prepared…I hope it doesn’t go on even beyond a few more days. We could open very quickly.”
Schumer together with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders met with Trump at the White House to negotiate a deal to open up the government and resolve their disagreement over border wall funding.
Their negotiations appeared unproductive again. Last Wednesday, the Democrats strongly rejected Trump’s demand for $5.6 billion in funding for border wall. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will not bring to the floor any spending bill that Trump opposes.
